BugJackBaron

I had a good breakfast in Jomtien on the bend just before the archway. It was called Papa Docs or Papa Davids or something like that anyway.

Papa Davids, Lots of choice, good service, no problem asking for specials, available all day, David is usually there every morning. If you are in the area, its a perfect choice to relax and start the day

Overpriced mediocre breakfast. Turgid mediocre quality Sunday roast dinner.

As with most places in Jomtien area

The transport system here is in someays better than Canada. Destinations are announced

before reached making it quite nice for new customers. In Canada forget it. Drivers

here are much more courteous and flexible..often stopping for customers who are not quite at the

bus stop. In the West its all strict rules.

In Korea where I worked there wasnt a week that went by without the bus driver

shouting (Gay Seki - son of a bitch) at some driver he thought was hogging the road.

I have yet to see any traffic disputes here.

How is the , er, dating scene there?

I was there eight years ago and remember the good and cheap food

but was really disappointed with the girls. Here I was, a tourist from Canada with

good means , relatively young and not too bad looking...and none of the girls were

interested! At least none of the lookers.

Seems all they wanted were American GIs or rich Japanese.

Compared to Pattaya I would say its a specialized market...

There are many new eating places popping up in Pattaya, the credit crunch has yet to hit. Before they start closing , have any of you tried anywhere new that is any good?

The ice cream bars in walking street are worth a visit.

The godfather italian restuarant in walking street is under new ownership, but I still like it, although it is a little expensive.

let us know if you have tried any new places and what you think of them.

Yes the ice cream bars are nice...especially after drinking.

To tell the truth I have become a little more cynical after 11 months here - 9 out of 10 new

places I try are poor and/or overpriced. Now I wait for someone else to review first...

I did a brief google and came up with a couple of possibilities for you to explore.

Pattaya Chess Club

And from a recent Pattaya Mail piece (Jan 30 - 5 Feb 09):

Tuesday

Chess and Scrabble Club: every Tuesday 12pm - 5pm at Hoek-Van-Holland in Jomtien. Take Thappraya Road to intersection with Beach Road. Dong Tan Police sub station is right there. Walk back towards Pattaya 10 meters along walking path. Hoek-Van-Holland is on the right, before the parking lot. Bring your own chess set and/or scrabble board. For more information please see website www.hoek-van-holland.com - Everyone welcome.

And lastly, though not a Pattaya chess club, the Bangkok Chess Club is holding a tournament in Pattaya in early April.

Bangkok Chess Club

Checkmate !

Yes it is the same ad appearing on Pattaya News tv in the communtity calander. It is hopelessly out of date.

Another search would have revealed what I put up many many months ago and it is still valid.

The only place that meets regularly is across from the Sea Breeze hotel on Jomtien. Go there 3pm.

There is a German master("Frank") who usually attends.

There are some other strong players playing speed occasionally in Pattaya MceeDee or Burger King

but it seems stricktly an informal friends thing... Many years ago there was a club in the food court of Royal Garden

but that too is gone...

199 Baht is a rip-off . In Bangkok 50 Baht in the cinema across from Siam Paragon.

Or use torrent...

Why use torrents when HD versions are on rapid share, big files take a while to download but the quality is superb

Isn't rapid share a usenet based service?

Usenet binary rapid downloads are often limited or non-free

but it does work.

Torrents vary according to popularity but you do need ADSL.

These days CSI episodes can be downloaded in 10 minutes and older movies

up to 3 weeks or more...

I found another place this morning on Second Road. It is easy to miss. It is about 235 metres from Pattaya Tai, on the opposite side of the Road to Soi GayBoyztown. It is called the 'Boat Bakery Restaurant'.

A full English breakfast cost just 48 baht.

2 Eggs

2 rashers of delicious high quality bacon

A large fine quality sausage

Freshly baked bread & toast/butter/jam/marmalade

A choice of piping hot tea/coffee and perpetual refills.

Did you actualy eat here or just walk past??

Cos i went there today, choice is bacon or sausage not both, i chose bacon, 1 fatty rasher of low quality bacon cooked to death and cut into 4 bite sized pices 2 eggs ok, 2 standard toast 1 small cup of tea no refills, no brown sauce let alone HP.

This is in no way shape or form a Full Engish!!

Yes the tea was hot, and the bread wasnt stale, they also provided a knife fork and a plate to eat it off.

I would say 48 baht was about right but had a real problem comparing your discription with my experiece.

Your not an Estate Agent are you???

Funny thing is im tempted to go back just so i can see the "large fine quality sausage"

Sorry to hear that you were disappointed. It might help if you visit at breakfast time: 7-11 am. Yes, go back and give it another try and try the large high quality sausage!

I don't believe it for a second but will try(maybe it is an owner/investor posting here!)

Boat Bakery does so-so Thai food but by Gawd the price is right

So it is hard to believe they would do excellent Western food of any form. Their baked western bread and pastery is the standard

hum-drum Thaiu affair.

Yeah, the Chinese restaurant scene here is pretty dismal. That is why I was happy to see Canton House open at the new Central Mall, as they do have some good stuff there. Not enough to satisfy a San Franciscan but we take what we can get here.

That said, the dim sum at the Montien Hotel's Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant is excellent (last time I checked).

There is also plenty of Thai Chinese food, which is good food for what it is of course.

OK, here is one theory as to why the Mexican and American food is not good in Pattaya. There aren't enough Americans. Non-Americans won't know the difference and the few Americans that are here have no choice so if they want a fix of something they have to cave in or cook it themselves. Compare to the British places. Brits say there is decent British food here. There are always tons more Brits here. Coincidence? I think not.

I have a simpler theory. Greed and lack of standards. Are there really any more Americans in Phuket

or even Chiang Mai where quality food is often found? By the way it IS possible -though too rare - to find quality American food in Pattaya; the problem is such places (like the one who did a great ceasor salad on Soi welcome) often go out of business. Maggies is still around and the burgers can be pretty good there.

I would prefer to say Western food than American anyways as Brits usually DO know the difference between quality steak and the choice of food in North America is quite eclectic.

I was expecting you to say around 50 baht ,not 199

199 Baht is a rip-off . In Bangkok 50 Baht in the cinema across from Siam Paragon.

Or use torrent...

Really?are those original dvd's and the big titles at 50 baht?

As far as I could see they were. Even had some golden oldies like Gone with the wind. 199

is the most I have ever heard of in Thailand

Another good option is just to trade your DVDs for FREE at the expat club on second road on Sunday.

I was expecting you to say around 50 baht ,not 199

199 Baht is a rip-off . In Bangkok 50 Baht in the cinema across from Siam Paragon.

Or use torrent...

They are original movies, not copies (which are often poor quality).

I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean the original reel of film?

I'm sure you mean an authorized DVD(or VCD??) version as opposed to maybe

some film shot by a guy in a trench coat with a shakey camera in a theatre

Well that's what I mean too..

Nonpushy fast quality work?

Look for Alexander on the street near Soi 17 that connects second road to walking street.

It's a semiarabic corner with a lot of arabic restaurants and people

doing that smoke thing in the street.

One pair of good pants 700 Baht!

I was expecting you to say around 50 baht ,not 199

199 Baht is a rip-off . In Bangkok 50 Baht in the cinema across from Siam Paragon.

Or use torrent...

I was expecting you to say around 50 baht ,not 199

199 Baht is a rip-off . In Bangkok 50 Baht in the cinema across from Siam Paragon.

Or use torrent...

OK, I know its a far shot but where are the aspiring poets,songwriters, storytellers and people who just like

to rant on stage in Bangkok? Only on Thai visa?

Or are all the artistic types in Chiang Mai only?

wait till the summer - as hot and humid as Thailand but you notice it more coz inevitably you have to do a bit more walking (no motorbike taxis for that 200m trip down the road)..

one more thing i should have added in my summery was about price. Ive seen lists putting seoul second or third in the most expensive cities in the world for expats. This in my opinion is nonsense, and must only be determined by the cost of housing someone in the most expensive hotels. Transport here is really cheap - subways and taxis, eating out is very affordable as is drinking unless you hit the imported bottles or cocktails (or expensive hotel bars - $16 for a small bottle of korean beer anyone?).. rent is also not expensive depending on where u choose to live, (although buying property here is expensive)... obviously Thailand is a lot cheaper, but if you are working then Korea is usually the much better option for affordable lifestyle and saving money -

a downside of Korea that i hadnt mentioned is that fans here are very dangerous and should not be left on at night under any circumstances

I don't think it's JUST housing. The fact is that most expats in korea don't have the huge key money needed for a place

so wind up living in the Ghetto near Itaswon. Eating out affordable? Well if you are happy with kim bop (rolled rice and some ham or veggies) sure. But Western food cheap? Reread my post. Even the diplomats on the hill complain about the "50 Buck specials" western restaurants often charge. I gave up on Western food because of this expense and the fact that it is usually

so-so at best. Even good Korean food often winds up costing 30 bucks or so in fancy places. But Koerans don't care because they think they must pay much if they eat out. Go figure.

Transportation is not bad but try taking the fast train to Busan for a day and check that 80 buck return fair!

Yes a few cheaper trains still exist and are booked solid for weeks.

some nice posts since my last one. To the second guy, you didn't direct that directly toward me but I post here because the message boards geared toward Korea suck!

To the first guy, I already noted the food isn't better, but I don't mind the lack of tourism variety. My Asian experience only starts in 1999 so all I've seen everywhere is westernization. I had a 9 year head start on Thai language but it is easier to pick up Korean and what's wrong with that? Plus, there aren't any moments where I have to turn on certain tones where soi maak goes from meaning "very beautiful" to street dog".

True but in Korea you can still be unintelligible even after 3 years of study. It took me that long to actually

reach a level where my accent was understood easily. The reason is the unusual nature of Korean(like Turkish)

its is a language with a special syllable beat. And Westerners always stress words unconsciously.

Conversely, it is also one reason why beginner students of English in Korea often have a very hard time(especially in long sentences)

being understood by Westerners.

Korea lost all its culture?

Is this the same culture that is so hot among Thai teenagers?

As for TV on the skytrain, uniquely thai perhaps but that's because unlike other cultures, there is very little fear of them being stolen, damaged etc.

Anyways, don't understand this korea vs thailand debate on a forum about thailand. seems to me that those pro korea have a personal axe to grind with thailand or are in denial about how much they miss living here.

carry on...

The teeny bopper culture(like the pretty face Rain) is nto what I meant. Perhaps I should say the culture

became massively westernized. The point aboyut the sky train TV is that is one of those annoying things done for business at the expensive of peace of mind. This is a trend that I have seen increase even in the four years since I first came to Thailand as a tourist.

Well I've worked in Korea (Seoul, Pusan and Ulsan) and am due to go back there (Seoul) for about 4 months and I am dreading it.

The south of the country ain't bad but Seoul is the most misnamed place on Earth as it is completely devoid of any hint of soul.

Korean food is quite good although they could do with learning how to serve it hot (apart from the Korean BBQ's which you have to cook) but Koreans are probably the most disgusting people to share a dinner table with. All this exaggerated slurping and lip smacking turns my stomach. Passed off as the way to get the most out of the food merely serves as a smoke screen to hide the fact that they are two legged pigs.

To compare Korea with Thailand is like comparing sh1t with sugar. I would far rather face a barrage of "hey you farang" in a market than the blank face Korean automatons.

Is it just me? Possibly, but my Vietnamese lady friend also hates them with a passion as there are a few around here at the moment because a Korean company is setting up a low cost production facility in the locality.

Anyhow the client wants me to go there and kick the sh1t out of the contractor (my mission from God ) so I will endure it for a few months then it's back to civilisation.

women are just as pretty but have economic options so bad news for you old guys

Are you on drugs? Faces like a smacked ar5e. From your "economic options" comment I assume you associate with prostitutes so that explains in part your "pretty" illusion (see, the beer goggles really do work).

Korea is not for me.

Nor me but I have to serve my time in the Gulag Archipeligo to earn my time in paradise.

Hey dude,

I was in Korea for 11 years - Busan 4 and Seoul 6 and yes it is indeed, for its size, proabably the most

boring city on Earth(Busan has some charm though). Truly lacking soul. It is built for commerce and the automobile and has little individuality at all. Koreans are a group people(the ones who are not quickly immigrate to other countries) and they prefer the safety of what everyone else does.

The foreigners hang out in gawd awful semi-military area called Itaewon with its religious nuts

(if a girl is friendly to you its because she wants to ask you about the Big J and Gawd ..or she's a Ho !)

The Western food, which

has "in" Koreans paying 17 bucks(600 baht) at Suzis for a bacon and eggs with lukewarm coffee and burnt toast is a joke. Whenever Koreans get it right they stop because Koreans don't like authentic western taste and there are not enough foreigners(the american forces have their own stiff on base) to make it worthwhile.

Yes there is some good Korean food but all the cheap stuff will be(much like Thailand I must say)

not really that healthy or edible. Fried canned tuna in rice anyone(chamchi bokimbap)? The quality of meat is better in Japan and I have had Koreans tell me the best Bulgogi they had was in America.

Korean traditional culture started disappearing en mass around 1997 - now it is a boring puppet sustained by US interests. Sadly I see the same signs of globalization here in Thailand(think of the TV added to the Skytrain just recently).

Korean women can be beautiful - I do not not think that any country has a monopoly on beauty. Parts of Korea are beautiful too but traveling is both expensive and exasperating even for Koreans.

Most of the tourists are Japanese looking for a quick day shopping.

Korean language is fascinating though. The alphabet is a cinch but getting its mono-toned nature

mastered can be a real trial. With Thai I find it the opposite.

But most teachers are there for one reason only and that is money.

OK end of rant.

(edited for spelling and clarity)

Saw the same movie, and concur with your observations. Abominable.

And, IMHO, the second-worst movie has to be the latest 007 movie "Quantum of Solace," during which I and the rest of the audience could not stay awake.

Anyone remember "Howard The Duck"?

Worst.

Passed by the Continental Bakery this morning and the place was basically empty, guess a 30% increase was a bit over the top for the bulk of their regular customers.

I never understood the attraction of the place - food was nowhere near as good as

the ones in Phuket. As usual Pattaya standards are low.

Foodland on Soi 4(?) Sukamavit is where all the cheap charlies(like me) go to have a

so-so but cheap breakfast. I noticed that the New Zealand Lamb Chops were 350 Baht (small ones!).

I seem to remember even two years ago they were about 175 Baht

Wow! Any insight as to why Lamb would go up by THAT MUCH over two years?

Is it just the foreign food?

Agree with the above.

Look carefully, you will see ALOT of homeless in Tokyo, visit the parks after dark or the tunnels under the streets. You will see them. At least in BKK it warm and the homeless are not freezing like in Tokyo.

HK? S'pore? Seoul?

The difference between them and BKK is that homelessness is "controlled" in these cities, their govts tries very hard to hide the fact. Probably illegal to be homeless in S'pore.

There are homeless in Singapore, and if you get away from the utopia of say Orchard Road, and explore some of the HDB areas, it ain't all sweet. Couldn't comment on Seoul, but I guess that it has similar areas.

Yes Seoul has homeless people but you don't see them since they all sleep in the extensive subways

I lived there for four years and for its size Seoul is probably the most boring city on Earth - and expensive; you want to pay a minimum of about 400 baht for a poorly done western breakfast?

few very good hotels I stayed this year under 1300 Baht, Venice april 2009 high season.

Charoensri Grand Royal- Udon, Charoensri Thani Princess - khon kaen, Park hotel-Chiang mai, Wangcome-Chian Rai, Imperial tara-Mae Hong Son.

Where you can find such hotels in Europe for the same price

Well, just sticking to my point about quite steep Thai price rises that are narrowing the gap, let us concentrate on Khon Kaen, where I often stay myself. You did well at the Chareon Thani Princess, where the current price is about 1700 baht (significant inflation since early last year?). First class in Khon Kaen would mean the Sofitel (Pullman) at about 2900 baht. Moving to a Western comparator, I stayed at the Hilton in Belfast last month for about 4000 baht, so I still think that the difference is narrowing. I never argued that the price was the same.

My 2 satangs. In comparison to to Eastern Asia Thailand is still cheap.

When I left Korea last year a CHEAP 4* hotel was

100 bucks. It was a shoebox and you were treated almost with contempt. No land of smiles there.

I usually can find, when traveling alone, clean reasonably sized budget hotel rooms for 500-600

Baht. In Buriram it was no problem and you can even find this in Pattaya if you look around.

In Japan and Korea it is probably impossible to get anything this cheap.

So it is not just the relative price increase but also the range of choice available that makes

Thailand a good place to stay. But yes Western food is often absurdly overpriced.

"The regular fare of mini bus in Pattaya is not over 10 baht per person acording to the law of enforced by the department of land transport."

The above is displayed in many "baht buses"

I suppose no one understands English.

Not over 10, not over 9 not over 8 not over 7 not over 6 not over 5 all amount to the same thing.

It could have said not over 1000 baht and still be correct.

It's 5 baht.

This red & white fare display has been replaced with an all white update.

The minimum fare is officially 8 baht per trip.

When I make short trips I pay 8 baht. For the Pattaya Tai-Jomtien trip I pay 10 baht if I get off at the near end of Jomtien Beach Road and 20 Baht if I get off at Sai Chaiyapuke which is the far end of Jomtien Beach Road.

The few times I have gone that far it has been a non-issue as they have always stopped at the police box(in the middle of jomtien beach rd) and told me it's 20 baht to go any further. Which is fair enough. So why not be as clear everytime?

To me it just creates ill-will.Have a clear map and clearly defined fair boundaries.

Kinokunya ... in the Emporium

This is my favourite. Maybe slightly smaller than the Paragon branch, but much more comfortable and browse-worthy.

I agree. The one in Siam covers their magazines with plastic, so you can't browse.

For some categories of books, like Science Fiction, Kinokunya is the best in Thailand.